As the war in Europe winds down, a unit of battle-fatigued GIs are tasked in liberating the survivors of the infamous Verurteilt concentration camp, in theory a relatively simple rescue mission. Upon arrival, Sergeant Rance Hawkins and his four young charges are ordered to search an unmapped area beyond the main camp for evidence of a separate, clandestine compound, reportedly created for high-ranking SS officers to further torment and torture. Their quest will eventually lead them into a nearby coal mine, where a young camp survivor claims that her mother and other refugees are being held. Inside the murky caverns, the motley crew of dogfaces discover revelations so terrifying and vile as to make even the inhuman atrocities of Verurteilt seem tame by comparison.
Formally published as The Curse of the Death Head, this book is the story of the infamous SS Totenkopf Division. The soldiers wore the sinister silver insignia of the Death's Head on their collars, and they were feared, hated and respected as one of the premier devisions on the Waffen-SS. In the early days of the war in Russia, the division covered itself in glory, but in defeat the men of the Totenkopf crashed to shame and ignominy, leaving behind a legacy of loathing unique in the annals of the battlefield
A novel of the improbable friendship that arises between a Nazi officer and a Jewish chessplayer in Auschwitz SS Obersturmfuhrer Paul Meissner arrives in Auschwitz from the Russian front wounded and fit only for administrative duty. His most pressing task is to improve camp morale and he establishes a chess club, and allows officers and enlisted men to gamble on the games. Soon Meissner learns that chess is also played among the prisoners, and there are rumors of an unbeatable Jew known as "the Watchmaker." Meissner's superiors begin to demand that he demonstrate German superiority by pitting this undefeated Jew against the best Nazi players. Meissner finds Emil Clément, the Watchmaker, and a curious relationship arises between them. As more and more games are played, the stakes rise, and the two men find their fates deeply entwined. Twenty years later, the two meet again in Amsterdam—Meissner has become a bishop, and Emil is playing in an international chess tournament. Having lost his family in the horrors of the death camps, Emil wants nothing to do with the ex-Nazi officer despite their history, but Meissner is persistent. "What I hope," he tells Emil, "is that I can help you to understand that the power of forgiveness will bring healing." As both men search for a modicum of peace, they recall a gripping tale of survival and trust. A suspenseful meditation on understanding and guilt, John Donoghue's The Death's Head Chess Club is a bold debut and a rich portrait of a surprising friendship.
Death's Head illuminates a little-known but significant moment in history, one whose outcome resonates through the years to the present day. It is a story of war and love and the faith that enables ordinary men to perform extraordinary deeds. 1190 - Saladin's armies have overrun most of the Holy Land, prompting a great crusade from the West, led by Richard the Lionheart, King Philip of France, and the German emperor, Frederick Barbarossa. Unjustly accused of murder, an idealistic young monk named Roger flees his abbey and joins the vast tide of men headed for the East. In the Holy Land, Roger finds not glory, but death and misery as he takes part in the greatest military debacle of the Middle Ages - the siege of Acre. Roger makes a name for himself in the company known as the Death's Heads, and he falls in love under the most improbable circumstances. But as the months pass, and he watches the mightiest fighting force in the history of Christendom being destroyed by battle and disease and starvation, he suffers a soul-shattering crisis of faith, wondering how God could permit His children to indulge in such madness.
Collects Death's Head (2019) #1-4. Marvel UK’s hottest character returns! When a job goes wrong, the intergalactic mech merc called Death’s Head wakes up half-assembled at a punk show! And if a crowd full of deodorant-eschewing youths weren’t enough, the Young Avengers have shown up! Well, half of them, anyway. Now, Hulkling and Wiccan will face down the best freelance peacekeeping agent in this universe! But why is there a “younger,” upgraded version of Death’s Head in Billy and Teddy’s apartment? Death’s Head’s search for answers leads to a shooting spree — but he just might find himself outmatched this time! Dr. Evelyn Necker is out there, stalking the streets, looking for the recipe for a perfect Death’s Head — and when she gets her hands on the original, it’ll set up one heck of a death match, yes?
This military history examines one of the most famous of the Waffen-SS divisions, the Death's Head. The author describes the formation of the division, its men and officers, as well as uniform and insignia, and provides a full combat record.
The richly illustrated book is the first part of a series on the history of uniform. This particular installment is an historical treatise on the origins, development and diffusion of the Death's Head badge among military units throughout the Western World, from the 17th century onward. It describes the different occurrences of this potent symbol and tries to shed some light on the reasons and motivations involved in the choice and implementation of so charged an image as the skull and crossbones. It tries to attenuate some of the justified aversion incurred since the Second World War and the use the Nazis made of the emblem, as it delves into the noble and honorable motives usually associated with the struggle against oppression, connected to the Death's Head during the nineteenth century. The sheer number of occurrences documented and illustrated (101) in the book is enough to generate some astonishment and will surely spark the curiosity of the reader. Most people are not aware of the use of skulls by any military unit other than the SS, let alone its employment by such irreproachable regiments as the Queens Royal Lancers. Even those interested in military history will probably not have realized the measure of proliferation the Skull & Bones badge has known nor the significance attached to it. A few of the instances I have discovered in my research will generate some interest as well, as these were not yet widely known or put together in a extensive study. For example, until now, the oldest known use of the emblem was usually attributed to the Prussian Von Ruesch hussars of 1741. I have been able to push back this date by a hundred years with my ‘discovery’ of the Von Menzel Pandurs and especially the Cronberg Cuirassiers of the Thirty Years War. Another point of interest is the depiction of many colorful and sometimes even extravagant uniforms of irregular units or even individual officers. For instance the attire of the (in)famous Baron de Géramb of 1810 stands out, but also the somewhat theatrical outfit of Josef Zienkowics of 1830, is of particular interest to uniformologists and historians of fashion alike. As the image of the skull and bones gains popularity among the numerous adherents of countless subcultural lifestyles, the interest in the subject also grows significantly outside the more usual circles of militaria buffs. Other proposed titles in this series: • The Sense of Uniform, Why are armies in uniform? • The Origins • The Fringe, Cords, ribbons and plumes • Headgear • Fashion, How do uniforms and civilian fashions interact? • Cavalry • Infantry • Guards • Navy and Marines
The cult British mechanoid anti-hero Death's Head returns in a collection of his greatest adventures that take him into the far future and into the past as he locks blasters with a host of enemies both villainous and noble, including the Fantastic Four and the corrupt Iron Man of 2020. Includes an exclusive introduction by the characters' creator Simon Furman.
After the collapse of the First Empire of Man, a war was fought between "old style" humanity and the Sauron supermen. Humanity eventually annihilated the home world of the Saurons but the cost was high: the Empire fell into a new Dark Age in which the secret of interstellar travel was lost. Now the remnants of the Saurons after returned but did not anticipate a mutiny in their own ranks.
